Atlanta 911 failure: Issue resolved with emergency call system

ATLANTA - Atlanta’s E-911 system is back online after technical problems forced emergency dispatchers to activate the city’s contingency plan Monday night.

What we know:

Officials said the disruption was caused by a technical issue and was not the result of a cyberattack. Technicians worked through the night to restore the system and were monitoring it Tuesday morning to ensure it remained stable.

The city is investigating what caused the failure.

Dispatchers move to temporary call center

What they did:

During the outage, Atlanta’s E-911 dispatchers relocated to a temporary call center inside the city’s public safety training center.

The Fulton County Emergency Communications Center also helped handle emergency calls while Atlanta’s system was unavailable.

Officials stressed that people calling 911 could still reach a dispatcher. However, processing calls took longer because dispatchers had to write down information instead of entering it into computers.

"The biggest issue would have been the time that it took us to process the calls, which is a little longer because we’re writing versus typing in calls," an E-911 official said.

City investigating cause

What's next:

Atlanta officials said the contingency plan worked as intended and thanked Fulton County for assisting during the disruption.

The city last activated the emergency backup plan in 2022.

Officials are now working to determine exactly what went wrong and whether additional steps are needed to prevent another outage.

For future reference

What you can do:

Below are some non-emergency numbers which could come in handy during a 911 outage in the city of Atlanta:

• Atlanta Police Non-Emergency Line: (404) 658-6666
• Atlanta Fire Rescue Headquarters / Direct Line: (404) 546-7000
• ATL311 City Services & Municipal Information: Dial 311 or call (404) 546-0311

Atlanta Police Department (APD) Precinct Locations

If phone systems are down, walk directly into your local zone precinct for emergency assistance.

Zone 1 Precinct (West Atlanta)

• Address: 2315 Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
• Direct Desk Phone: (404) 546-5361

Zone 2 Precinct (Buckhead / North Atlanta)

• Address: 3120 Maple Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30305
• Direct Desk Phone: (404) 848-7231
• Buckhead Village Substation Phone: (404) 546-5486

Zone 3 Precinct (Southeast Atlanta)

• Address: 880 Cherokee Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30315
• Direct Desk Phone: (404) 624-0674

Zone 4 Precinct (Southwest Atlanta)

• Address: 884 York Ave SW, Atlanta, GA 30310
• Direct Desk Phone: (404) 756-1903

Zone 5 Precinct (Downtown / Midtown)

• Address: 200 Ted Turner Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30303
• Direct Desk Phone: (404) 546-5812
• Midtown Substation Address: 90 Peachtree Pl NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 | Phone: (404) 546-5990

Zone 6 Precinct (East Atlanta)

• Address: 1599 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30317
• Direct Desk Phone: (404) 546-5700

Atlanta Fire Rescue Department stations

Fire stations operate as primary 24/7 walk-in medical and safety intake centers when call routing fails.

• Station 1 (Downtown / Castleberry Hill): 71 Elliott St SW, Atlanta, GA 30313 | Phone: (404) 546-7000
• Station 2 (Lakewood Heights): 1568 Jonesboro Rd SE, Atlanta, GA 30315
• Station 4 (Downtown Center): 70 Edgewood Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
• Station 8 (Buckhead / NW Atlanta): 1711 Marietta Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
• Station 11 (Midtown East): 30 14th St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
• Station 15 (Midtown): 170 10th St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
• Station 16 (Washington Park): 1048 Joseph E Boone Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30314
• Station 19 (Virginia-Highland): 1063 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306

Major Atlanta hospitals & emergency rooms

Grady Memorial Hospital (Level 1 Trauma Center)

• Address: 80 Jesse Hill Jr Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30303
• Main Line: (404) 616-1000

Emory University Hospital Midtown (Full Emergency Department)

• Address: 550 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
• Main Line: (404) 686-9600

Piedmont Atlanta Hospital (Full Emergency Department)

• Address: 1968 Peachtree Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
• Main Line: (404) 605-5000

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - Hughes Spalding (Pediatric ER)

• Address: 35 Jesse Hill Jr Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30303
• Main Line: (404) 785-9500

Emory University Hospital - Clifton Road (Full Emergency Department)

• Address: 1364 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30322
• Main Line: (404) 712-2000

24/7 Ask-A-Nurse & Medical Advice Lines

Use these triage lines for urgent medical guidance, symptom assessment, or self-care instructions when 911 dispatch lines are busy or unavailable.

• Emory Healthcare Nurse Triage Line: (404) 544-9358
• Kaiser Permanente 24/7 Advice Nurse Line: (404) 365-0966
• Georgia Poison Center Hotline: (800) 222-1222

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